2008 SANTE 230 ZR6 vs 2009 SANTE 230 343

[ViSoR]

Honestly I like everything about that 09 except the engine. I would be tempted to go with the 09. Nice bimini, nice cover, Titan tower is nicer than the one on the 08, you will LOVE the Wetsounds and it is expensive to put in, boat looks super clean! It's also a year newer.

It's been on Only Inboards for a while and they have dropped the price, maybe make them a lower offer like 56k and if not you're going with an 08. They might be desperate enough to move it during winter and sell it to you!

Personnally I wanted my 08 230 to have the ZR6 but you hear so many guys on here that had no problems whatsoever with the 343! Especially in Texas where they seem to sell so many 343 equipped 230's.

It's a tough call! lol

At 55k that Florida boat is a steal as well but salt water is not reassuring.

Good luck!

[Miljack]

I'll throw another $0.02 in the pot, **warning opinion ahead**

Fury red does not resell well

It's just my opinion, and some people love that color, but I've seen many Fury combo boats sit...

BTW, your seller on the '09 kinda "cheaped out" on the Wetsounds install. Syn 2 to run Rev 8's is a nice system, a "full Wetsounds system," it's not. That's roughly $1500 in equipment and will sound good, but it's not a complete setup. BTW the sub in the coaming pad behind the driver is not an optimum setup, it will require some tweaking to get the best performance out of a sub in that location.

And for whatever this is worth, Buxton in Dallas seems to be the only dealer who can convince buyers that the 343 is the correct engine in a 230, 343 also detracts from the resale of a 230...

Flame on!

[robgobuckeye]

I just had my 2010 SANTE with the ZR409 delivered Friday. ))) And for me the FCT3 made the decision process easy. Big upgrade over the older towers IMHO.

Rob

[nyryan2001]

I'll throw another $0.02 in the pot, **warning opinion ahead**

And for whatever this is worth, Buxton in Dallas seems to be the only dealer who can convince buyers that the 343 is the correct engine in a 230, 343 also detracts from the resale of a 230...

Flame on!

***Warning****

This is based on dyno and hp/tq curves, not opinion, emotion or bravado:

This is the same 350/410 debate that has been going on across all the manf: Indmar, PCM, Ilmore and others. All the others post hp/tq charts for their engines, PCM wont, but we know they are the same engines and very very close in performance.

But, very little benefit of the 409 over the 343 hp/tq wise.... only in the higher RPMs can the 409 pull away from the 343. For that little bit of extra only in the highest RPMs.... is that really worth extra $5-6k?.... or if you want a REAL substantial HP/TQ bump acorss ALL rpms you need the 450. Would I bypass a 6.0L 230 because it was a 6.0? No, but the real decision would be if that extra 5-10% (maybe??) in usable power is worth $5-6k??

You are fooling yourself if you think the 409 is some type of hotrod super mega engine over the 343. Not even close. It outperforms it marginally in the higher RPM bands. And the data proves this vs anedotal reviews. Its too bad PCM doesnt publish hp/tq charts like the others.

I'd tell the OP: prop your 343 right and it'd do everything the 409 can do equally weighted. You might loose 2-3 mph off your top end, but prop'd right it would pull as hard equally weighted minus that 2-3mph at your top end you'd see with the 409.

Really it comes down to how price sensitive are you in the purchase and how much you value the $5k vs a little extra power.

[Quinner]

If it was my purchase sure would take a closer look at the 10' boat, assumming it's not "over salted" looks to be the most bang for the buck.

Good Luck with Your Decision

[ViSoR]

The thing with the 343 vs 390/409 zr6 is that it's a mental thing. People (including myself) think a bigger boat needs a bigger engine. lol So I agree it can greatly hurt resale.

[thedude]

I think you should talk with this guy: http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...2008-SANTE-230

black hull, nice trailer, 409 motor, nice stereo. Tough to beat. Sounds like he's going to list for 57, might be able to work out a deal.